The ITC eChoupal InitiativeThe case is about a technology based transition of soybean supply chain from traditional flow to a more efficient method. Case first talks about the traditional way of soybean supply chain. In the traditional method, farmers are taking their product to local markets called “mandi”. They had difficulties in taking their product to far market places, and there they do not know the expected price of their product. So middlemen can play with the price in the local market and they can take advantage of the situation. Then they sell the product to ITC at a higher price. Moreover, in this supply chain ITC has no control over the quality of the product which results in huge cost for ITC. As a result ITC decides to take action against this situation. The solution that ITC came up with is to create a way to directly stay in contact with farmers. In order for that purpose, ITC looks back to the old tradition of Choupal in villages. Choupals are places where farmers meet, exchange information and goods. So in each soybean producing region they set up a computer, printer and internet connection at Choupals. They let the farmers to access the www.soyachoupal.com website. In this website, farmers can learn about weather, best practices for soybean production, market information, and crop information in the region, news, frequently asked questions, company information and a feedback area. In each Choupal, they assign a Sanchalak who is responsible for helping farmer accessing the information. They also help farmers in selling their produce to ITC through which they earn commission. Farmers like this new supply chain, because they were informed about the price of their products in real time.ITC set up quite a lot of warehouses and hubs throughout the region so it was comfortable for farmers to take their soybeans. They got rid of the difficulties in local Mandi. ITC was benefiting from this approach because they were buying for a better price...

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In Hindi (an Indian language spoken in most parts of Northern and Central India), a choupal is a village gathering place. The e-choupal initiative—whereby a choupal is equipped with a computer and Internet connectivity—is the brainchild of a large agricultural processing company in India, the Indian Tobacco Company (ITC). The initiative...

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...Final Examination
Term 4
1
Answer 1: ITC Manages the dilemma of balancing profit objectives with Social objectives by
carefully interweaving the two in a manner that they both support each other.
o In support of this approach ITC’s S. Sivakumar CEO, IBD has stated that this is the most
sustainable and exciting way is to serve rural population while simultaneously generating
shareholder value thus balancing the two
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